News & Public Affairs

Ten years ago, the United States invaded Iraq under the pretense that the nation was harboring Al-Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction. Tuesday, fifteen peace activists including Veterans for Peace organizer Jay D. Alexander protested the invasion and occupation just a mile and a half from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

âWe staged an immoral and illegal invasion of that country ten years ago.â

He wasnât the only who felt deceived by the actions of the U.S. military. Walt See...

Ten years ago this week, the U.S.-led coalition began the bombing campaign on Iraq, branded Shock and Awe.

Early in the morning of March 20, 2003, hundreds of missiles began raining down on Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. It was the evening of March 19 in the United States, so Tuesday is commonly recognized as the anniversary.

We look back at the peace movement in 2003 and in the decade since in this conversation with anti-war activist Chris Ernesto from St. Pete for Peace.

Helen Benedict is a professor of journalism at Columbia University who won the James Aronson Award for Social Justice in 2008. Professor Benedict is a novelist and journalist specializing in issues of social justice. Her most recent non-fiction book THE LONELY SOLDIER: THE PRIVATE WAR OF WOMEN SERVING IN IRAQ (2009 and 2010, Beacon Press) won the EMMA (Exceptional Merit in Media Award) from the National Women's Political Caucus and was the inspiration for the award winning and Oscar nominate...

Medea Benjamin who co-founded both Code Pink and Global Exchange discussed the recent protest she attended in Chicago with the NATO meetings. She gave a synopsis of what happened in both the inside of the conference and the outside.With her long time involvement in activist causes and peace demonstrations, she gave a very insightful analysis. We then discussed her latest book DRONE WARFARE with a forward by Barbara Erenhreich. Medea believes that that we were all aware that we had turned a v...

When a country deals with a dark chapter in its past, like genocide, there are questions about reparations for people directly and indirectly affected. At the USF Library, Taner Akcam gave the keynote speech in a symposium hosted by USF libraries Holocaust and Genocide center on the denial of the Armenian Genocide and the Turkish national security policy of Turkey.

Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the War in Afghanistan. Thursday protesters marched on Washington D.C. in protest of American militarism. Several local peace groups marched on Tampaâs federal courthouse in solidarity with the D.C. rally.

The U.S. Constitution requires that only Congress may declare war. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 gives the President permission to defend the country without pre-approval from Congress if the country or its allies are in danger. But it still requires action from Congress within 60 days. But President Barack Obama has done none of those things regarding the U.S. involvement in NATO bombing of Libya. Today the U.S. House debated what to do about it and considered two competing resolutions. ...

Across Florida the Food Not Bombs movement is going through a revival. It may be due to unemployment, foreclosures, and restrictions on homeless feedings in Orlando. In Tampa Bay new Food Not Bombs chapters are formed and volunteers share food and literature in support of the Orlando volunteers who got arrested for handing out poor to the homeless and needy. The St. Petersburg chapter is growing fast, says volunteer Alex Nadeau. He quit his corporate job and now works for free: he feeds the h...

Welcome to the WMNF afternoon call-in show the Last Call. Iâm SeÃ¡n Kinane. This afternoon weâll talk about efforts by cities across Florida that are making it more difficult â and in some cases illegal â to feed people in public parks.

Joining us in this conversation is the co-founder of Food Not Bombs, Keith McHenry. Heâs in St. Petersburg right now helping to cook a meal for people in downtownâs Mirror Lake Park. Thank you for Joining us Keith.